Fade Away
by randomwriter1939
Summary: Booth and Brennan go on a case that ends with a bang. When one is gone, the other must move on, but can they move on, while the other tries to fade away?
1. Chapter 1

**Booth and Brennan go on a case that ends with a bang. When one is gone, the other must move on, but can they move on, while the other tries to fade away?**

All she can think of is running as fast as she can. She has to get to her car and get out of this situation. "This isn't happening!" She thought to herself. Temperance Brennan, the world renowned anthropologist, would most likely be thought of as intelligent and rational. Yet tonight, that so-called anthropologist decided to be opposite of herself. She had done something she swore she would not do and now she was paying for it.

As the scenery flashes by, Temperance finds herself nearing her car. Without turning around she could tell that the one thing that was making her run was getting closer to her. She could hear the footsteps getting closer and sound more chaotic as this person was running to get her. She held her breath with fear and dug for her keys that somehow managed to be at the bottom of her shoulder bag. Temperance was getting anxious; and running while trying to find her keys was not helping the situation.

She finally felt the cold metal of the keys and yanked them out of her bag. She could see her car now and feeling a little relief she slowed down. She pressed the unlock button and scrambled to the driver side door. As she was climbing in she felt a strong angry hand grab her left arm. This scared her, making her drop her keys on the floor of the car. She had thought she'd made it to her car, she'd thought she'd out run him, but she should not have underestimated him.

With the sound of the keys hitting the floor carpet, she slowly raised her head and cautiously looked up into his face.

**One Year Earlier…**

The case had been going for almost five weeks and Brennan was getting antsy to finish it. They had been trying to find the man who had murdered three women. They were all random killings and it was hard to get evidence on him because of his randomness. Brennan wanted to get the man so that she could be done with this case and get away from Booth for a while.

These past weeks had been strange to her. Booth had been acting different around her and she did not like it. She knew he was hiding something from her and she was not used to that side of him. Booth always shared everything with her. They were partners, best friends, and this new mood Booth was in was making Brennan nervous. Had she done something to make him angry or annoyed. Usually he would tell her if she had done something.

All of these thoughts had been circling in Brennan's head all night and the amount of sleep she got was horrible. This case and Booth had been driving her crazy. All she wanted was the case to go away so she could work on some remains that did not have to do with a murder.

Temperance found her-self looking at the clock for the fifth time that early morning and decided it was pointless to try and sleep. It was five in the morning and she had no luck getting any rest. Brennan got up and slowly walked in the bathroom to get ready for the day. She looked at herself in the mirror. "I just don't understand him. What could he possibly be hiding from me?" With that, she got into the shower and took her time. She had not taken a shower that long in a while and it felt nice to try and relax.

Temperance then got out of the shower and did her daily routine for the morning. When she emerged from her room, she put on a pot of coffee and grabbed her cell phone to check for messages. There was nothing. No one had any leads. This case was going nowhere. She sighed to herself and poured her coffee. It was now around seven and she decided to go to work a little bit earlier than normal. Maybe she could look at the bones of the women again, she had to find something.

As she arrived at the Jeffersonian she noticed a black SUV parked in front. "What is Booth doing here this early? Maybe he found out something about the case!" Brennan was excited that he might have found something, but a little angry because he did not call to tell her first. Brennan picked up her pace and entered the building. She headed straight for her office, hoping Booth would be waiting for her on her couch. When she entered her office, Booth was nowhere to be found. Getting annoyed with Booth's strange behavior, she threw her purse on her desk and stormed out.

She stood in the walkway and held still. The Jeffersonian was very quiet in the mornings and not many people were at work yet. She could hear the faint sounds of scientists settling in their rooms and opening and closing doors. She could hear people's footsteps as they walked along the halls. Brennan could not understand where Booth could be, she could hear his voice a mile away. Why couldn't she find him.

Then as if on cue, she heard him. He was speaking very quietly and it was hard to understand what he was saying. "Where is he?" she said to herself. She quietly walked down the hallway and stopped at Cam's office. She peaked inside and saw Booth and Cam speaking to each other in a very serious manner. "What on earth are they talking about this early." Brennan said quietly. Brennan snuck herself into Cam's office a little more so that she could hear what they were talking about. Normally she would just barge in and ask, but Booth had been so different lately that she was not going to break up their conversation.

Brennan concentrated on being completely still and silent so that she would not get caught. As she leaned closer to the two people in the room she caught her breath. "Seeley, you can't keep being this way around her, you have to tell her. She knows that there is something off about you. This case has been very stressful and you keeping secrets from her is not helping." Cam stated.

"How do you know that she knows, huh?" Booth asked. "She is not one to tell people how she is feeling. Maybe she is just stressed. I don't think she can tell I'm hiding something."

Brennan flinched at the words. Hiding something was not what partners did. She felt angry and sad all at once. "I can't believe I was right. I knew something was different." Brennan thought to herself.

"I know Seeley; she has been acting distant towards me and the staff and giving me short answers when I ask her questions. She only gets like that when you do something." Cam pointed a finger at Booth.

"I am just not sure I should tell her yet Cam. This is a big deal. She is not like every other woman. I do not want her to run." Booth looked down at the floor. Cam walked closer to Booth and put a hand on his arm. "Booth, you need to tell her, but make sure you believe what you are telling her. If this is just some random feeling you have and do not intend on acting upon it, then don't tell her. I know you too well though, and I know that this feeling has been around for some time now, but if you are too scared to do something about it and are not able to deal with her reaction, then don't tell her." Cam said, giving Booth some space as she stepped back.

"I'm not scared, but she will be. I know that she may try to give me excuses, but I know she feels the same way. She just has too." Booth stared at his hands, knowing what he had to do. "Cam, I'm going to tell her and I'm going to make sure she doesn't run." Booth looked up at Cam and saw that she was smiling.

"Booth, I've known you a long time and I know that this is going to be scary for you and her, but I think it will work out fine. If she does try to run, you have to convince her that you won't leave. She runs because people leave her and she can't handle it very well. Promise me Booth that you will not let her leave. I need her here and I care for you too much to let this all fall apart." Cam stepped forward.

"I promise Cam. I won't let Bones leave. I love her too much to let her leave." Booth then walked up to Cam and gave her a quick hug.

Brennan was frozen in her hiding spot in the doorway. Booth was not angry with her at all. He was nervous about telling her how he felt about her. Brennan did not know what to think about what she just heard. She felt a strong urge to run as fast as she could but instead she quietly and slowly sneaked away and into her office. She shut her door and locked it, hoping that when Booth left Cam's office he would not notice she was there yet.

"No, this can't be happening. Our partnership will be ruined and so will our friendship. I have to get out of here." She said to herself quietly. Brennan was just about to sneak out of her office when she saw Booth emerge from Cam's office. She quickly shut her door and turned off her lights hoping Booth would not notice. Brennan slid her back down the door and wrapped her arms around her knees. She felt nervous and scared, hoping he would leave. As she closed her eyes she heard it. "Bones? You in there? Why is your door locked!" Booth said while knocking on the door.

**Hello! I hope you all review and tell me what you think. If you all like it, I will be happy to put up the next chapter. It will be a couple more chapters before we get back to the present day. After all, I have a whole year to catch you up on! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews, it really helps me! Here is another chapter. A reminder that we are still in the past trying to understand what has happened over the year to Brennan and Booth. Thank you all once again for reading and reviewing!**

As she closed her eyes she heard it. "Bones? You in there? Why is your door locked!" Booth said while knocking on the door.

"Uhh, hold on Booth, I'm working on something." She lied. Brennan tried to calm down so that Booth could not tell she was flustered about what she had just heard. She hoped that he could not tell, otherwise she would run for it. Brennan calmly got up off the floor and unlocked the door. As she opened the door, Booth was standing there, looking very nervous. "Oh no." She thought. "I have to avoid this conversation. I have to get out of this room."

"Hey Bones. What's with the locked door, eh?" Booth said casually. He was staring at Brennan wondering what was taking her so long to answer. Why was she thinking about the question so hard? Was she hiding something?

"Umm, it was locked because… because I felt the need to not be disturbed while I worked on this case, that's all." Brennan said while looking anywhere but at Booth. She was a lousy liar and Booth saw straight through her.

"Okay Bones, whatever you say." Booth said, not buying any word she just managed to come up with. He was going to ask why she would be locking her door now as opposed to all the other cases where she left her door unlocked, but he felt that he would figure that out later. Right now he had to talk to her about his conversation with Cam. He had to get his feelings out.

"So Bones, do you have a minute to talk? I need to tell you something." He said nervously.

"No, I uh… I need to go home because I forgot some important information on this case. I seem to have left it on my kitchen counter. I was just on my way out Booth." She lied

"Really, it is not like you to forget things Bones. Are you okay? You seem a little different."

"I'm fine Booth. I just need to get the case information I forgot at home. I just really want to finish this case Booth and me forgetting the information at home will not help us here." She said wanting to run as fast as she could. There was no way she was going to let Booth talk to her about what she just heard. That would ruin everything.

Booth started to get a little irritated with how Brennan seemed to be avoiding his conversation. "Bones, I think your case information will be okay for the next couple minutes while I talk to you. Can you just wait a minute please." Booth asked

Brennan was not going to have this conversation. "Booth I told you, I don't have time. Let me go home and get my things. I won't be able to do my job if I have my case information at home. Please Booth, I really don't have time. When I get back we can talk, okay?" she lied. She was not going to talk later. She planned on working from home as long as she could today, unless something in the case came up.

"Fine Bones." He said angrily. "I'll call you if anything comes up in the case. Just come back when you get all your things okay? We need to talk about something and I don't want you all distracted." With that Booth left the room and walked out of the Jeffersonian.

Brennan sighed with relief. She had been able to avoid Booth. She waited in her office until she felt it was safe to leave without running into Booth in the parking lot.

As Brennan walked into her apartment, she found herself feeling sad and angry. Sad because she knew eventually she would have to reject Booth if he were to ask her to be more than partners and angry because Booth is trying to mess up a good partnership. More importantly she was angry because her friendship with Booth meant more to her than any of her past relationships with anyone and he was going to break it up.

Brennan walked slowly over to the couch and sat down. She felt defeated. "How could Booth do this? I can't lose him, not him. He is the person I trust the most and this feeling Booth has for me is going to change everything." She said quietly to herself. "If he tries to love me, he will get hurt because I don't know how to love like he does. I will lose him because I don't know how to love back." Brennan put her head in her hands and breathed deeply. She was feeling like screaming or hitting or doing something to get over this emotion she was dealing with.

What was this feeling she was having? Brennan did not have these problems. She is a rational scientist whose emotions stay locked behind the walls she has built up over her life. "I can't lose Booth, I want him to get over this irrational behavior and I need to give him space. He can't love me, he needs to move on and I need to help him do that. Help him love someone real and whole, but not me. I don't want to lose our friendship. It's the best thing I have ever had." She was talking to herself.

"I want everything to be as it is. Maybe if I just leave for a while, he can move on and get over this, then everything will be fine. After this case I am going on a dig. Maybe a couple months will do. He should be fine by then." Brennan was sounding a little crazy as her speech with herself grew louder. She felt satisfied with her decision and promised to herself that she would give Booth space to move on, without letting him realize she knew about his secret.

Brennan's phone rang as she was making her way off the couch to make herself some lunch. "Brennan."

"Bones, it's me. I've got some news about the case. Hodgins was able to find out where the murderer lives, well Angela found that part out, but Hodgins did the slime bug stuff and anyways we have the address." Booth said in a rushed tone. "I'm on my way to your apartment to pick you up. I'm letting you go with me, but you have to stay in the car when I go in the perp's house okay?"

"Booth, I want to go in with you. I am supposed to be allowed with you in the field, which means I get to help you arrest the guy too." She said annoyed. "Please Booth?"

"Fine, but stay behind me when we go in. I mean it Bones. You cannot go charging in there. Okay! I'll be at your apartment in five." Booth hung up.

**Reviews? Pretty Please. Next chapter will be Booth and Brennan's run in with the murderer and also about what happens to them that may change everything. **


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